


Riding Goofy and Other Snow Adventures

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Prompt Fills 2018 [21]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 08:24:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14516322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: Written for the comment_fic prompt: "Merlin BBC, Arthur Pendragon/Merlin, One of them is a famous snowboarder."It's not Arthur, because Pendragons ski, but Arthur decides to try something new.





	Riding Goofy and Other Snow Adventures

Arthur knew that at least some of his previous refusals to learn how to snowboard stemmed, in part, from the way he’d been raised. Pendragons had _money_ and _class,_ and skiing in the Alps or Lake Tahoe or Aspen was what people with money did in winter. None of that crass snowboarding nonsense, which was what cannabis-smokers and delinquents did. Skiing or nothing.

Arthur and Morgana had been skiing for as long as they could remember, had hit the slopes every season kitted out in top-of-the-line gear, both of them in Pendragon red and gold. Everyone talked about how Arthur’s mother would have been on the Winter Olympics team before she’d had him, how she’d been such a talented skier. Arthur had never told anyone, but he sort of felt like he _understood_ his mother better when he was rushing down the mountain, the cold wind in his face and hair. Uther skied, of course, but more often than not it was a social or business occasion for him; he didn’t enjoy it like Arthur did.

As Arthur got older, he was less inclined to try risky things, like falling down the mountain and dislocating his shoulder like Leon had when he attempted to learn at sixteen. Now that Uther was making noise about Arthur joining the family business when he graduated from uni, Arthur was trying to be more responsible.

Trying.

So of course, when the collective persuasive powers of Leon, Lance, Gwaine, Elyan, and Percy rained down on him, he gave in. Agreed to get strapped to a board and fall down the mountain all day on a Saturday. Morgana, the overachiever, had learned to snowboard from her roommate Gwen ages ago, and the two of them were tackling blue diamond runs with glee.

Leon and Lance taught him “the basics”, then took off with Gwaine, Morgana, and the rest to ride the blue runs and maybe even try some black ones.

It took Arthur three hours to make three runs because he kept on falling. To stop he was supposed to brake on his heel edge, but really he kept falling on his rear. Trying to stand up while both feet were strapped to a giant board was difficult. Watching seven-year-olds zoom past him on boards was pretty disheartening.

But after his third run, he shuffled into the singles line, told himself the lift ride up would give him time to recover for the ride down.

He was in line behind the very stereotype of snowboarding madness, a skinny moppet in black pants but a huge puffy brown-and-blue jacket, wearing some kind of hand-knitted hat that looked, well, like a wizard’s hat, blue with yellow moons and stars. The other lad must have been a competent snowboarder, or an insane one, because he wasn’t wearing a helmet. His goggles were a decent brand. His mitts were also blue and patterned with gold moons and stars. He was wearing a little red bandanna to protect his nose and mouth, but Arthur could see he had dark hair and unfortunately protuberant ears.

The sullen teenager checking lift passes and directing traffic onto the lift scanned the other lad’s pass, then Arthur’s, waved for them to join a couple of skiers who cast both of them looks that Arthur might or might not have cast at snowboarders in his time. He sent them all silent apologies as he scooted his board along the snow to the lift. His friends had laughed riotously when he’d fallen getting onto the lift the first time, though he was hardly the only one falling getting off the lift. Up to this point, Arthur had managed to ride up with other snowboarders, and they’d all been sympathetic to his plight as a _noob._ If he fell in front of those skiers, who he could probably eat alive in a downhill skiing race or slalom run, he wasn’t sure his already battered ego could take it.

But the other snowboarder turned to him, grinned, and Arthur was struck by the blue of his eyes, his high cheekbones.

Thankfully, Arthur made it onto the lift without issue, though he had to angle himself a bit so they all fit on the bench.

“Sorry, but I have to -” He slung his arm behind the other snowboarder’s shoulders.

“Not a problem.”

“Since we’re getting cozy, I’m Arthur.” He left off his last name, always did. Between his helmet and goggles and scarf, he was pretty anonymous.

“Merlin,” the other lad said, waggling one of his mitts pointedly.

“Of course,” Arthur said.

“You been snowboarding long?” Merlin asked.

“This is my first day,” Arthur admitted. “It’s - had its ups and downs.”

Merlin tugged down his bandana, and he had full, pink lips. “Are you taking lessons?”

“No. I mean, my friends taught me how to stop - and by stop I mean fall - and I’m practicing my heel edge.”

“How is that going?”

“It could be going better,” Arthur admitted.

Merlin raised his eyebrows. “And your friends just left you?”

“Well, they’re a radio call away when I’m ready to tackle my toe edge.”

“I could help you, if you like,” Merlin said.

“Are you a snowboard instructor?”

“Ah, no, that’s not my day job,” Merlin said, “but I am competent enough to teach you the basics, get you doing the falling leaf perhaps by the end of the day, if not actually carving.”

Arthur had been rambling a bit, because exhaustion and frustration had whittled down the barriers of Pendragon decorum that an army of nannies and tutors had instilled in him from a young age, but he wasn’t completely devoid of social graces. “I don’t mean to put you out -”

“I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t mind,” Merlin said.

Arthur eyed him uncertainly, then relented, because as stubborn and proud as he was, he wasn’t going to turn down such a generous offer, and he needed the help. Snowboarding instruction was expensive, and while Arthur could have easily paid for it, he had unwisely shared in his mates’ overconfidence about how easily he could master the basics.

“All right. Thank you,” Arthur said finally.

Merlin beamed at him, expression sunny, and Arthur felt warmth unfurl in his chest. Merlin seemed like a sweet, naive sort of lad, maybe a bit slow from smoking too much cannabis - he’d have been eaten alive in the corporate world - but he would be good company for the day.

Merlin made sure they made it off the lift at the bunny hill, and Arthur was glad he didn’t fall. Merlin waited patiently while Arthur struggled to snap on his bindings without taking off his mitts, because up on the mountain it was biting cold, and Arthur hadn’t gotten moving enough to ever really warm up.

Then Arthur stood up - he’d sat on a bench to fasten in his loose foot - and headed for the cat track.

“Do you ride regular or goofy?” Merlin asked.

Arthur looked at him blankly.

Merlin looked down at Arthur’s board. “Your board is set up to be pretty ambidextrous, but - do you have your left foot or your right foot forward when you’re going downhill?”

“Mostly I fall,” Arthur said.

“Maybe we’ll have to test you later,” Merlin said.

“There’s a test for that?”

Merlin nodded.

“My friends didn’t test me.”

“While you’re learning, having your board ambidextrous is fine,” Merlin said. “I ride goofy, but that’s okay. How I ride won’t really affect how you ride in the long run.”

They made it down the cat track from the ski lift and onto the mountain proper.

“Now,” Merlin said, “show me what you’ve got.”

Arthur nodded, gritted his teeth, and made it all of five meters before he toppled backward with a painful thump. Merlin was at his side in an instant.

“Are you all right?”

“Nothing I’ve never done before. Now if I could just get up.” Arthur wondered if this was how capsized turtles felt, struggling to get up but unable to get the momentum or leverage necessary.

Merlin sat down beside him. “If you tug your board in closer to your bottom, that helps.”

Arthur tried, but to no avail.

“If you also stomp down with one foot a bit, that helps. Don’t worry, you won’t break your board - it’s pretty flexible.”

Arthur took a deep breath, tucked his legs in close, pressed down with one foot - and he was on his feet.

Merlin beamed at him. “Now, come on. I get the sense that you don’t really have your balance point on your heel edge, so hold my hands, and do your best to find that balance point, all right?”

“Hold your hands?” Arthur echoed, but then Merlin hopped expertly so he was facing Arthur, and he held out his hands.

Arthur hesitated for a moment, then accepted them.

“Now come on,” Merlin said.

At first, Arthur was terribly embarrassed, because he felt like a baby learning how to walk, and also he was worried about Merlin, but Merlin really was a very competent snowboarder, could snowboard backward downhill without breaking a sweat. Arthur was grateful, though, because he finally figured out how to really balance on his board, and he only fell a couple more times before they made it to the bottom of the hill.

Arthur didn’t even think twice, followed Merlin not into the singles line but into another line so they could take the lift up together.

“This time,” Merlin said, “I won’t hold your hands, but I’ll be there.”

“Thanks,” Arthur said, suddenly feeling shy. “I really appreciate it.”

Merlin favored him with another one of his sun-bright smiles. “I really love snowboarding, so I’m always glad to share the joy.”

Arthur felt like Merlin had shared more than the simple joy of snowboarding. There was something intense about being the sole focus of his attention. This time down the hill was definitely better, and Merlin taught Arthur how to shift his weight on his feet. Snowboarding was the opposite of surfing, he said (as if Arthur knew how to surf - did Merlin know how to surf? How would he look, all sleek in a dark wetsuit, water droplets sliding down his pale skin?). Control was from the front foot, not the back foot. If it helped Arthur, he could lift off his back foot altogether.

Arthur figured how to do the falling leaf, switching back and forth between his feet, always on his toe edge, and made it down the mountain with minimal falling. On his third run with Merlin, he didn’t fall at all, and he felt stupidly pleased when they reached the bottom and Merlin cheered for him.

Then Arthur’s radio crackled. It was Leon.

“Round Table to Prince,” Leon said, because Gwaine had thought it would be funny to assign them all silly radio call signs, “what’s your twenty? Over.”

Merlin raised his eyebrows, amused. Arthur rolled his eyes and shucked off his mitts, fumbled in his jacket for his walkie-talkie. “I’m at the bottom of the hill, over.”

“Meet us for lunch at the lodge? Over.”

“Roger that. Over and out.” Arthur talked the walkie away.

“That sounded so very - military,” Merlin said.

Arthur had had former SAS agents as his bodyguards when he was a kid, taken self-defense and martial arts lessons from them. “My friends. They like to pretend we’re tougher than we are. Would you - would you like to join us? I’ll buy you lunch. Your generosity has been - unparalleled.”

Merlin looked amused at the formality that Arthur was stumbling over, but he nodded. “If you don’t think your friends will mind.”

“They won’t.”

“Let me just text my friends -” Merlin began, and was tackled by a dark-haired girl.

He toppled over into the snow.

“Merlin!” she cried. “Where have you been? We were riding the half pipe and everyone was asking about you and your famous quad cork 1880 and - hello, what’s this?”

Merlin pushed himself up to his feet, dusted himself off, gave the girl a hand to her feet. “Freya, this is Arthur. I was helping him learn to ride his heel edge, and in gratitude he’s invited me to lunch with him, so -”

“Hello, Freya,” Arthur said, and offered her his hand. “If you like, Merlin, your friends could come to lunch with us as well. That’s what these excursions are all about, aren’t they? Making new friends.”

“Uh - sure, if you like. Freya? Mordred? Gilli? Will? Alvarr? D’you want to -?”

And then a familiar voice said, “Arthur Pendragon.”

Arthur straightened up. Morgause. Morgana’s half-sister by her mother. “Morgause. Hello. I didn’t realize you were here. Does Morgana know?”

“Of course.” Morgause tossed her golden hair.

“Wait,” Merlin said, “Arthur _Pendragon?”_

“Yes,” Arthur said, feeling a little helpless, and also a bit offended by the shock in Merlin’s tone.

It was Will who said, “Nah, Merlin, you go with your new friend. C’mon, Morgause, I want another run at that double black diamond before we eat.”

She lifted her chin. “Challenge accepted. I’m watching you, Pendragon,” she said, and then she skate-pushed back into the lift line.

Freya and the others followed, leaving Arthur and Merlin looking at each other awkwardly, the easy camaraderie between them broken. But then Merlin knelt down, unlatched his other boot, and propped his snowboard up on one of the rests.

“Lunch sounds wonderful, especially if you’re buying,” he said.

Arthur, unaccountably relieved, also unlatched his bindings and set his snowboard beside Merlin’s, which now that it wasn’t covered in snow was painted beautifully, the night sky and shooting stars. Merlin really bought into the theme of his name.

They headed for the lodge.

“So you know Morgause.”

“Yes,” Merlin said. “She’s a friend of a friend. Freya and Will and I go way back, and Freya somehow fell in with Morgause sometime, so - I didn’t realize you were Arthur Pendragon.”

“Since the day I was born.” He shrugged. “Does it matter, that I’m a Pendragon?”

“No. Just -”

“Morgause has a rather dim view of me and my father, I know. I’m not terribly keen on the fact that my father cheated on my mother before she died, but - Morgana is my sister.”

“Morgana’s a force of nature,” Merlin said.

“You know her?” Arthur held the door of the lodge open, then followed Merlin in, shucking his helmet and bandanna and goggles as he went.

“Arthur, how did it go?” Lance asked.

It was Leon who said, “Goodness gracious, Merlin Emrys?”

“Er, yes,” Merlin said, waving. “Hello.” He’d shed his hat and bandana and mitts, waved hesitantly. His dark hair was fluffy and wild from his hat. He was beautiful.

“Do all you people know each other?” Arthur asked.

Leon stared at him. “Arthur, you don’t know Merlin?”

“Well, I do. I mean, after you and Lance negligently abandoned me to fall down the mountain, Merlin was kind enough to give me some private lessons, and for that reason he is dining with us and his lunch is on me,” Arthur said.

Gwaine swatted Arthur on the hip. “Mate, Merlin Emrys is on the English Winter Olympic team. As a halfpipe snowboarder.”

Arthur turned to Merlin. “Oh. _Oh._ You - you didn’t say.”

Merlin shrugged. “It’s not something I say when I first meet people.”

“Then the others - Freya and Will -”

“My teammates,” Merlin said.

“Don’t mind him, Merlin,” Morgana said. “He’s been a dedicated snob of a skier all his life.”

“He did all right today,” Merlin said, and Arthur was again stupidly pleased, that Merlin was defending him.

Arthur pulled out a chair for Merlin. “Anything you want for lunch, it’s yours.”

Which went without saying, because the teenage girl who came to take their order squealed and nearly upended a tray of drinks on Merlin when she recognized him, and once he’d calmed her down, he’d posed for a selfie with her and signed a serviette for her, and Arthur was quietly dazed with the magnitude of what had happened today. He’d had private snowboarding lessons with an Olympic athlete.

Whatever Uther Pendragon had to say about snowboarding, the athleticism required to make the Olympic team was - dedication.

Elyan leaned in and whispered, “Merlin’s practically magic on a snowboard. Defies the laws of gravity.”

Merlin was still chatting with the fangirl waitress.

It was Morgana who intervened smoothly and convinced the waitress to take their orders - and put everything on Arthur’s card, which he really didn’t mind, but he rolled his eyes at her on principle.

After the meal, it was time to go back up the mountain.

“Do you want me to still ride with you?” Merlin asked.

“I’m sure you have more interesting things to do.”

“I could go ride the halfpipe with the others,” Merlin said quietly, “but I like spending time with you.”

Arthur smiled at him then. “All right. Then stay with me.”

Merlin said, with a cheeky grin, “Yes, sire.”


End file.
